The Secret life of Dr Hofstadter
by Myannah
Summary: An anthropological study of the social and psychological implementation of the combination of attractiveness and ingenious genes. Someone shows up at Apartment 4A, about to change someone's life forever.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Penny walked up the stairs for the millionth time in her life. As a force of habit she counted the stairs subconsciously, hardly noticing the girl on the landing, until she nearly walked into her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Penny mumbled and headed to her door but halfway there, she noticed the girl was staring at apartment 4A with serious focus. Penny dropped her bags by her door and snuck up on the girl, staring at her with amusement.

She looked to be in her early twenties. She was short and thin and very pretty. She looked a little familiar but Penny couldn't place her.

"Are you trying to open the door using 'the force'?" Penny eventually asked. She broke her focus and turned to look at Penny for the first time. She frowned at Penny as if she didn't understand.

"Not one of Sheldon's weirdo's?" Penny asked. The girl tried to say something but no words came out.

"Oh, you have selective mutism? You're here to see Raj for help?" Penny guessed.

"I don't know what you mean." The girl said finally.

"Okay, let me start over. Hi, I'm Penny."

"Hi Penny." He said quickly and looked back at the door.

"It won't open by itself." Penny said, slightly bored.

"I'm Prissy." The girl looked away from the door.

"I wouldn't say that. Although I'm not entirely sure what it means…" Penny frowned.

"My name is Prissy. Or Pris." She clarified. "Prissy means prudish, stiff and formal."

"Well, Hi Pris." Penny crossed her arms, still unaware of what the girl was doing there. "So, whatcha doin?"

"I'm about to change someone's life. You understand why I'm hesitating to knock on the door."

"Oh my god. You're Howard's kid? And he doesn't know?"

"Who? What? No." Pris shook her head. "I'm here to see Leonard Hofstadter."

"Oh my god, you're his kid?" Penny started Hyperventilating. "I didn't even know he was sexually active twenty-something years ago…"

Pris turned to stare at Penny, suddenly amused by her freak-out. She tilted her head to the side and watched her.

"No. I'm not his daughter." She finally said. "I'm his sister. Half-sister. He doesn't know about me. Yet."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Leonard and the guys were sitting around the apartment, waiting for Penny to get home before they order dinner.

"I don't think sex with Superman would kill her." Leonard defended his argument.

There was a knock on the door and they all stared at each other, wondering who would knock at that hour. Penny would simply walk in as she always did. Sheldon glided to the door and slowly opened it.

Pris stood in front of him patiently. Penny was nowhere to be seen.

"You are not Leonard Hofstadter." Pris stated.

"How amusingly observant of you." Sheldon replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Leonard Hofstadter." Leonard stood from his seat and walked closer.

"I know who you are, Leonard!" Sheldon snapped. "I asked her."

"Sheldon, sweetie," Penny poked her head into the apartment. "Go play with your P-S wee-box-thingy."

Penny slipped in around Pris and gently pulled her into the room.

"This is Leonard. Leonard, this is Pris."

"What an unfortunate name." Sheldon commented, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"It's short for Persephone." She told him.

"Shut up Sheldon." Leonard hushed him before he could comment. "Hello Pris. How can I help you?" Leonard was confused.

"You might want to sit down." Pris stated.

"Did someone die?"

"No, but someone might." Penny whispered. "Sit down, Sweetie. You might also want to be alone."

"What's wrong?" Leonard started worrying.

"You can say anything in front of us. We're here for support." Howard chipped in.

"Tell me what is going on. I'm not sitting down." Leonard urged.

Penny looked at Pris and gave her an encouraging nod. Pris took a deep breath and chose her words. She closed her eyes and started talking.

"Several years ago, Dr. Hofstadter, your father, went to Seattle for a Anthropology conference. He met my mother, a singer, and started a social experiment. He wanted to know if smarts and good looks would make better offspring. And I was the product of that Experiment."

Leonard stared at her, not completely understanding what she meant. "What?"

"I'm your half sister." Pris explained.

"You're a product of an experiment?" Leonard asked slowly.

"That's what you took from that?" Penny squeaked.

"You're my sister?" Leonard managed.

"Half sister." Sheldon corrected but everyone ignored him.

"What do you want, Persephone? (wife of Hades, goddess of the afterlife)" Howard asked Pris suddenly as he stepped closer. "Money? A Kidney?"

Pris glanced at him and sighed.

"I don't want anything from you. My dad is publishing his findings in his book next month, I just wanted to come tell you before you find out about it in the book. That's not exactly how I would want to find out about it. Here" She pulled a large thick book from her shoulder bag and handed it to Leonard. "You can read more about it in this."

"You call him: Dad?" Leonard asked.

"Well, I outgrew the term "daddy" when I was five years old." She stared at him for a second. "You don't call him dad?"

"I call him: Father. Dad was too informal."

"I only got to see him once a year." She tried.

"It isn't a competition, you know." Sheldon chipped in.

"Shut up Sheldon!" Leonard and Pris said together and finally the ice broke. They laughed and relaxed. Leonard took the book she held out for him and gestured for her to take a seat.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Leonard asked.

"I'll get us sodas," Penny said and walked to the kitchen.

Leonard sat in his usual chair as he studied Pris's face. She looked a tiny bit like their father. They had the same eyes. He hardly noticed or cared when she sat in Sheldon's spot.

"That's my spot!" Sheldon complained and stepped closer.

Pris looked up at him defiantly. "I don't care."

"Excuse me?" Sheldon squeaked.

"Sit somewhere else." She stated and then ignored him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

For the next couple of days, Leonard spent every hour that he wasn't working or sleeping, reading the book that Pris had given him. He was a fast reader but he wanted to make sure he didn't miss anything. It was fascinating in a very strange way.

"He explains everything from the day of her conception, to the day she turned eighteen." Leonard tried to tell Sheldon.

"I know. I already read it, Leonard." Sheldon stated, feigning boredom.

"She was brilliant from the start."

"Brilliant?" Sheldon almost laughed. "If that is your definition of brilliant, then you have a problem."

"She could read at eighteen months!" Leonard defended.

"It isn't that impressive." Sheldon whined.

"You're just jealous because she didn't get bullied for being so smart."

"She didn't get bullied because she's pretty."

"She is, isn't she?" Leonard forgot the fight and looked at her picture on the back cover. He was proud that someone so pretty AND smart was related to him.

"Although I agree that her features fall high on the golden ratio, I am not jealous of anything that she has achieved."

"She beat you out as the youngest person to receive the Stevenson Award." Leonard was on the defense again.

"By one month." Sheldon threw back.

"She has three doctorates and a masters' degree."

"One of those doctorates is in fine arts. Who gets a doctorate in _Fine arts_? What is that?" Sheldon said 'fine arts' as if it was a swear word.

"Stephen Hawking called her an artistic genius." Leonard wanted to put the fight to rest.

"Yeah well…" Sheldon searched for a comeback. "She can't drive."

"Neither can you."

"I can drive. I choose not to."

"She can pilot a helicopter."

"So can Captain Murdock from the A-Team, but I won't call him brilliant."

"I would." Pris stood at the open door, having heard most of the argument.

"Good grief, she's here." Sheldon complained, unable to contain his frustration.

"Everyone is smart, Sheldon." She said. "But if you measure a fish's ability to climb a tree, he would spend the rest of his life thinking that he's stupid."

"What sort of balderdash is that?" Sheldon asked.

"The kind of _balderdash_ that distinguishes me from you. Knowledge without understanding is useless. Thucydides." She walked over to the couch and sat in Sheldon's spot.

"Leonard, I don't like her." Sheldon complained out loud.

Leonard grinned. "I do."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Leonard and Pris went out to buy dinner. Returning to the apartment, she explained the math behind good music.

"You're going to have to write that down for me." Leonard said. "We have lots of white boards."

"I'm boring you?" she asked.

"No. Pris. You're amazing. I can't believe I actually like someone I'm related to."

"It's good to talk to someone who understands half of what I say." She said and then threw her fingers over her lips. "That was mean. I just meant that I can't really talk to my mom about this stuff and my dad is hardly ever around, so… Oh, man, I suck."

"No, why?"

"This is surprisingly hard for me. I don't know how to… sibling."

"Of course you don't. You were raised alone." Leonard stopped at his door. "To be fair, I don't know how to sibling either, I didn't get along with my brother and sister growing up. But I guess it should just be like friends, right?"

"I can do that." Pris smiled. "I like people. I like you."

Leonard smiled and opened the door, motioning for her to walk in.

"Good. You've returned." Sheldon sat firmly in his spot with his laptop on the coffee table, the TV remote stuck to his wrist and a drink at his side.

Leonard took a few seconds to take in the image of Sheldon taped to his seat cushion but then decided it was better not to comment. Pris saw the tape and tried not to laugh.

"How do you plan on going to the bathroom in that?" she asked with a giggle slipping out.

"I don't have to go."

Leonard offered Pris his usual seat and sat down next to Sheldon.

"So how did you get into math?" Leonard asked Pris.

"Well, my first friend in kindergarten was a huge music buff. And she had this superpower for finding the best CD's. When she started drumming, I heard numbers instead of beats. The rhythm made sense, mathematically."

"Super power for finding CD's." Sheldon scoffed to himself.

"Everything we do boils down to math." She ignored Sheldon.

"How do you figure?" Sheldon asked her. It was actually a test.

"Everything we eat, equals the energy we put out. We measure life in numbers. Days, minutes, years. Music falls in a rhythm that equals a certain mood. And every stupid question you ask me in order to test me, is a wasted breath. The more wasted breaths you have, the shorter your life will be."

"Is that a threat?" Sheldon asked.

"No, Sheldon." Pris shook her head. "I don't want to waste my breath.

Leonard grinned. She was very clever.

"So tell me what is so fascinating about _Fine Art_?" Sheldon challenged her.

"You wouldn't understand." She stated. Leonard almost choked on his food.

Sheldon stoop up with the cushion stuck to his behind and it looked ridiculous.

"Leonard, I really don't like her. Make her leave." Sheldon whined.

Pris stood up and squared herself on her feet. She was shorter than Sheldon but somehow it looked like she was standing taller.

"I don't like you either Sheldon. But that's not your problem. I will deal with it." She stated and confused him.

"Are you saying that, me not liking you, shouldn't be your problem?" Sheldon tried to stare her down but she stood strong.

"Yes." She folded her arms. "But it bothers me."

"You hear that Sheldon?" Leonard tried not to smile. "She's upset." He had a tactic. "Sheldon, someone in your house is upset. What do you do if someone in your house is upset?"

"Make them a hot beverage." Sheldon moaned.

"Thank you, Sheldon, that would make me feel better." She smiled and sat down again. Sheldon shuffled towards the kitchen, growling all the way.

"He wouldn't spit in my drink, or poison me, would he?" she whispered to Leonard.

"Don't worry. He can't do that. His mother would be mortified if she ever found out."

"I'm making hot cocoa. With milk. I hope it kills you." Sheldon said loudly.

"Why would it kill me?" she asked.

"I'm lactose intolerant." Leonard informed her.

"Oh. No, I'm not."

"Is there anything wrong with you?" Leonard asked before he took another bite of his food.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Leonard and Sheldon sat on the couch bickering amongst themselves. Pris was nowhere to be seen.

The front door flew open and Bernadette, Howard and Penny walked in.

"We're here for the showdown." Howard said. "I mean. We brought cake."

"Where is she?" Bernadette pouted. "I wanted to see Sheldon's ballbuster."

"Excuse me?" Amy walked in wide-eyed and just as curious.

"You mean the pain in my neck? She's in the bathroom." Sheldon tried to shift in his seat but the tape kept him in one place.

Everyone eyed the tape but decided not to mention it as they took seats. Leonard's phone rang and he stood up to answer it in the kitchen.

Pris returned, humming to herself. Sheldon sighed audibly and stared at her.

"Hi Pris," Penny greeted her. "This is Bernadette. Howard's wife. And that is Amy."

"Sheldon's girlfriend." Amy stated.

"Wow you really are pretty." Bernadette gaped at Pris.

"Thank you." Pris blushed. Amy walked closer and shook Pris's hand, studying her face with scrutiny.

"Not even a tiny blemish on you." Amy stated in awe.

"What did you do?" Penny suddenly asked Pris with a wide grin.

"What do you mean?" Pris tried to stare down Amy but their focus broke and they looked at Penny.

"Sheldon is giving you the death stare!" Penny squealed.

"He refuses to admit that he needs to go to the bathroom." Pris smiled. "I won't sit in your spot, Sheldon." She said kindly as she sat in her seat. "I have a seat, thanks."

Sheldon calculated his options. "Okay fine." He stood from the seat with the cushion still stuck and froze, unsure of how to get free of all the tape. He sat down again.

"Didn't think this one through, did you?" Pris asked. She removed a pocketknife and cut through the tape before Sheldon could scream. But that didn't stop him from squealing anyway. Sheldon took a deep breath and removed the cut tape.

"If you will excuse me." Sheldon stood from the cushion and hurried down the hallway out of sight.

"So." Bernadette asked, "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm an installation artist." Pris said, wondering how many of the brainiacs would actually know what that is.

"Hey, I just got the weirdest call from my mother." Leonard walked back to the couch. "She wants to sue my father. Our father." Leonard stated. "For not including her in his experiment."

"Wow."

"Have you spoken to her? Or anyone else in my family?" Leonard asked.

"I met Michael and Hayley. Gave them the same speech that I gave you. You can imagine how paranoid I was by the time I got to you. But you ended up the nicest. My dad told me that he would talk to your mom. I guess he just did." Pris said.

"This is weird." Leonard sat down.

"Hayley looked at me down her long nose and didn't react at all. And after I stormed his office and told him, Michael scheduled a dinner with me four months in advance, that's how busy he is."

"Well, she wants to meet you." Leonard said carefully.

"Oh? Should I be scared?" Pris frowned.

"I don't think so. She said she took notes in the book and wants to ask you a few questions."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Thank you for picking me up from the airport." Beverley stated as she, Penny and Leonard drove through the city to get to Pris's work.

Leonard stared out at the rode, expecting Penny to reply.

"Did you hear me Leonard?" Beverly touched the back of his seat and looked at him in the rearview mirror. "I said thank you for picking me up."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was focused on the road." He lied. "You're welcome, Mother." Leonard was surprised that she thanked him. It was always an awkward exchange but today the weirdness felt like it could suffocate him.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Pris has to work late, so we're meeting her at her office." Leonard stated robotically, not sure how his mother would feel about the fact that Pris can't take time off from work at seven at night for dinner.

"Alright." Beverly stared out the window for a second and then turned to Penny. "So Penny, what do you think about it?"

"Mother!" Leonard exclaimed.

"What?" Beverley was confused.

"It has a name! She's my sister and I want you to be nice, please."

"I know she has a name, Leonard."

"You called her: It." Leonard stated.

"No, I was referring to the situation, not the person."

"Oh. Sorry." Leonard lowered his heart rate that had spiked when he thought she was being mean. He was on edge about this whole situation.

"Well, Pris is cute. She's smart and gorgeous. And funny. I think of her as an experiment. I mean, I didn't read the book or anything but she's perfectly normal to me." Penny answered the question eventually.

"Normal?" Beverley mumbled to herself and stared out the window again. "Leonard, where are we?"

They arrived at the address that Pris had given him. It was an abandoned opera house near the University. The gates looked old and high and the building behind it was lit like a haunted manor. Scaffolding frames that reached the roof stood abandoned after a day's work.

"Are you sure this is where she works?" Even Penny was scared.

"Yeah. That's her car." Leonard pointed to the blue Volvo parked near the front steps.

A guard walked up to his window. "Can I help you?"

"We're here to see Dr. Prior. I'm Leonard."

"The brother?" the guard asked.

"Yeah." Leonard said slightly uncomfortable.

The guard opened the gate and gestured for Leonard to drive in.

"Do you think Pris sent us here to kill us?" Penny asked as they walked up the grand stairs to the large front doors.

"What kind of a job does this girl have?" Beverley was slightly upset and confused.

"She's an instillation artist." Leonard said. He was actually excited to see what she did for a living.

"I don't know what that means." Beverley complained as they stepped towards the front door. They walked inside and found themselves in a dimly lit hallway.

"Pris?" Leonard called to no avail. After his voice echoed back, he searched for his phone to try and find her. Footsteps could be heard and suddenly a bouncy red headed woman ran into view.

"Hi, sorry. I'm Arena. You're looking for Dr. Prior, right? You're Leonard?" she asked before she even reached them. "Follow me." She said and turned around midway, turning down another long hallway. They followed her down the heavily musty hallway towards a rather large marble hall.

Arena held her finger to her lips, indicating that her followers should remain quiet and then she stepped into the marble hall. "DR. PRIOR!" she yelled and the words echoed like the best speakers in the world.

"Yes Arena?" Pris whispered right next to them. Leonard turned around but she wasn't there. "You don't need to yell." The whispering continued and both Penny and Leonard search for Pris.

"Did she die?" Penny asked. "And now she's haunting us?"

"Oh believe me, If I died I wouldn't be haunting you. I have a list of old advisories that needs to be scared out of their skin." Pris spoke in a normal tone and finally they caught sight of her.

She was hanging parallel to the floor from the ceiling with full wall climbing gear. She turned upside down and waved at them. "Hi Leonard. Penny."

Pris placed her feet on the ceiling and kicked off, sliding down the rope as the pulley slowly let her sail to the ground. She stepped on the floor and unhooked herself from the contraption.

"Mother, this is Persephone, Pris this is my mother, Beverley Hofstadter." Leonard introduced them as Pris walked closer.

"Hi." She said again and stared back at Beverley who was studying her. "You're not a hand shaker." Pris stated.

"No, I'm not." Beverley pulled up her nose. "That is perceptive of you."

"Yeah, it's probably for the best, my hands are dirty." Pris showed her dirty hands and wiped them off on her shorts. "Besides, the amount of pathogens passed during a handshake is staggering. It would be better for us to kiss."

Beverley stared at her and Leonard didn't know what to do or say.

"Yes it would be." Beverley eventually said.

"Please don't." Leonard mumbled. Pris laughed, and they relaxed.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Pris led the way up some stairs and down another long hall towards her office.

"How many people work here?" Leonard asked her.

"Right now, we're seven."

"This place is huge!" Leonard looked up and saw a bridge-like hallway above them and when he looked down, saw that they were also walking on a bridge. There were railings between the carpet and the gap in the wall. He could see through to the bottom floor. They reached her office and were intercepted by Arena.

"Embry called." She held up a cell phone.

"Oh crap. I'll call him back." Pris opened the door and motioned for her guests to walk in. "Food?"

"On it's way." Pris smiled and stepped into the office. She had a casual couch area with a coffee machine and a wide selection of coffee flavor pods stuck against the wall in a beautiful wave of color.

"This is your office?" Leonard asked with a wide grin. It looked more like Picasso's living room with all the colors splashed around.

"Office is through there." Pris pointed to a wardrobe in the back corner of the room. Leonard walked to the wardrobe and opened the door, finding an open archway to a more clinical office area.

"This is so cool." Leonard returned to the couches.

Penny checked out the coffee collection while Beverley searched for the best seat. Leonard stood curious of what to expect next.

"Anyone want some coffee?" Penny asked over her shoulder. "I'm sorry Pris, but I just have to, this is too cool."

"Go ahead please. Food will be here soon."

Beverley sat down and shifted her seat a few times, trying to get comfortable. Pris sat down across from Beverley and Leonard finally settled on the seat next to his mother. Penny went ahead and made coffee to her hearts content.

"So. Persephone." Beverley started, pushing her glassed up her nose. She said Persephone like it was a dirty word.

Pris waited for a question or a comment while she spent the silence studying Beverley.

"Is your mother a self centered person?" she finally asked.

"Why would you ask that?" Pris asked, curious rather than offended.

"Because she named you after herself." Beverley said. "She too is Persephone Prior, isn't she?"

Pris smiled. "Actually she's Persephone Ryan. But yes. She was hopped up on drugs when she had me, and so happy to have survived labor. Besides, there's nothing wrong with naming your children after yourself. That is how the surname business got started. It's very self-affirming to give your child your name. Self-worth is a good thing to pass on to your kids."

Leonard raised his eyebrows. _Pris score one, Beverley zero,_ he thought to himself.

Penny handed everyone a drink and sat down at the only empty chair, enjoying her coffee.

"Persephone, would you describe your mother as selfish?" Beverley asked next.

"Well, Yes. She has more shoes than the national library has books."

 _Score: Pris one, Beverley one._

"Is your mother a home wrecker?" Beverley asked blatantly.

"Mother!" Leonard exclaimed.

"Stay out of this Leonard," Pris said without taking her eyes off Beverley. She thought for a few seconds and bit her lip.

"No she isn't." Pris thought through her answer before she continued. "I don't know what happened between you and my dad, but my mom had nothing to do with your divorce. It wasn't like a life long affair or anything. They never even slept together. Not once. I was cooked in a lab, they never even touched. Whenever my dad came to visit once a year, he spent six out of the seven days, putting me through tests and asking me questions as if he didn't know me. Because technically he didn't. I got one day a year of a dad who took me to get ice cream, or who bought me the ridiculously large dictionary I wanted. When you got divorced, he didn't come running to my mother. He never loved her. And it didn't stunt me emotionally. I'm fine with the way things turned out. I hate old movies, I got good grades and I have amazing friends and I'm happily married."

Leonard stared at her, first of all, he didn't know she was married, and secondly, her whole speech left them all dumbstruck.

 _Score: Pris two, Beverley one._

"If you have problems, don't blame others. The shared co-efficient is usually yourself." Pris added.

"How do you know all this… stuff?" Beverley asked, completely thrown.

"I have a doctorate in Behavioral Psychology with an emphasis on Micro expressions, I can read you like a book. When we met, I could tell that you're not a hand shaker by the simple fact that you kept your right hand closed at your side and the fact that your right foot was slightly further back than your left, making you turn oblique and arch away from me."

 _Score: Pris three, Beverley one._

"Pris, please explain what you do for a living?" Penny asked and broke the tension. "I mean, you were hanging like Vampira from the ceiling and you have this whole abandoned theatre to yourself."

"Installation art." Pris smiled. "It is works of art that spans the entire size of a room. I was painting the hooks we had installed today. I'm a stickler for detail. The hooks were silver and reflective and would change the light in the room. I just added a matte coat of the ceiling paint. Tomorrow someone is coming in to install the hammocks. Every room will become some art display."

"Do you make money doing this?" Penny wondered.

"No not really."

"One more question, Pris." Beverley had trouble saying Pris so causally but she tried it anyway. "Is your mother proud of you?"

Pris smiled. "Yes, yes she is."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A couple days passed since Beverley had her inquisition with Pris. She had asked a few more questions regarding her directions of study and left with a strange attempt at a smile.

Leonard was busy in his kitchen, setting out snacks and making punch as Sheldon sat in his spot repeating his words over and over again. "Oh, the horror." He mumbled as he stared into the distance. The door swung open and Penny walked through.

She stared at Sheldon as he repeated his little complaint yet again.

"Let me guess," she said to Leonard. "Pris is coming over?"

Leonard grinned. "Yes she is. How did you know?"

"Besides his little mantra and his tone, he has his Prissy face on." Penny pointed out. Leonard laughed.

"Excuse me, I do not have a prissy face." Sheldon mumbled.

"Yeah you do." Penny and Leonard said together.

"You look like…" Penny searched for the word but ended up just gesturing to his face. "That."

"So. Pris is coming over?" Penny asked as she walked across the room to the kitchen.

"Oh the horror." Sheldon zoned out again.

"Yep."

"What's with all the snacks?" Penny asked as Leonard poured out a bag of chips.

"We're celebrating her birthday."

"Oh, I didn't know it's her birthday, you should have told me Leonard."

"Why? We're just getting dinner and playing some games. Mostly just us. And it isn't her birthday until Thursday but she is going to be in Seattle then. So it's just something small."

"I didn't get her a present."

"You don't have to give her a present." Leonard said.

"No, I'll go get it quickly. I know what she would love."

"Really? Any idea what I can get her?" Leonard asked.

Penny turned towards the door. "Yeah sure. I'll get that too."

And Penny was gone.

"Sheldon, we need to talk." Leonard sat down in his chair and looked at Sheldon who was still off somewhere in his mind.

The words: we need to talk, brought him right out of his trance.

"That doesn't sound good." Sheldon was on high alert.

"No, It's nothing bad. I just want to ask you to be nice to Pris."

"I'm always nice." Sheldon actually complained.

"Just be nicer, than your usual anal selfish self. I promise to buy you a new collectable if you succeed."

"What collectable?" Sheldon was intrigued.

"Whatever you want, Sheldon." Leonard knew this was going to be a difficult conversation.

"I already know what I want." Sheldon stood from the seat, very dramatically. "A vintage edition of the Amazing Fantasy 15: Introducing Spiderman."

"That thing is worth over four hundred thousand dollars!" Leonard wined.

"Start saving."

"If you can't be nice, then I suggest you go somewhere else for the night."

There was a knock on the door. "We'll get back to this, Sheldon." Leonard was going to have a hard time convincing Sheldon to behave or leave. He walked closer to the door when there was another knock.

 _Knock, knock, knock_ , "Leonard?" a voice called through the door. Leonard stared at the door and then at Sheldon. It was definitely Pris and she couldn't hold her laugh.

 _Knock, knock, knock_ , "Leonard?" she repeated and her laugher almost broke through.

 _Knock, knock, knock,_ "Leonard?" and she finally giggled.

"I hate her." Sheldon mumbled and hovered by his seat, unsure whether he should go get himself a soda or stick to his spot.

Leonard grinned as he opened the door. Pris grinned back as she stood waiting.

"Can we talk," was the first thing she said.

"Oh, that doesn't sound good." Leonard mumbled.

"Told you so." Sheldon reviled in the thought that now Leonard was uncomfortable due to that simple sentence.

"Okay," she seemed to rethink her sentence. "I would like to tell you something."

"That sounds better." Leonard smiled again. Pris stepped backwards, giving him room to walk out.

He stepped into the lobby and stared at a tall skinny guy with longish dark curly hair. He looked to Leonard like a young JRR Tolkien Elve version of John Snow from Game of Thrones.

"Leonard, this is Embry." Pris introduced them. "My husband."

"Hello Embry." Leonard felt like a real hobbit next to this guy.

"I realized the other day when I spoke to your mom, that I hadn't even told you about him. And not…" she softly slapped the back of her hand across Embry's chest as she looked at him sternly. "Because I forgot about him."

Embry smiled. "Of course not. How could you forget me?" Embry spoke with a thick Irish accent and locked eyes with her. The way that Pris looked back at Embry, made Leonard feel uncomfortable to be in the same room but at the same time, it just caught his breath as if it was a perfect movie moment.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"So, why didn't you tell me about him?" Leonard asked.

"Well, Leonard, in the last three weeks since we met," she started to speak real quick, "we have spent a total of ninety three point three minutes together. Not including the twenty-minute interrogation with your mother. In that time we had to cover our total sum of sixty years of life. And despite the fact that eighteen of my years were chronicled in a book, there was a lot of explaining to do which made for three times the amount of information but we will ignore that fact and stick to the twenty-five years of my life and thirty-five of yours. Besides, I knew nothing about you. But it averages down to seven point six eight months per minute."

And at this point in the episode, the audience would erupt in cheer for the amazing math she just did in her head.

"It's understandable that we hadn't covered everything." She finished.

Leonard stared at her.

"Okay, I understand." Leonard nodded, trying to do half the math in his head. He could figure it out, but the actual equations were too much for him that quickly.

"You understood that?" Embry asked. "You must be related." He grinned and Pris giggled.

"Oh he's making a joke," Leonard said after a smile broke on his face too.

"Gandalf." Embry turned to Pris. "I have to go. I will be back after the meeting."

"Yeah. Okay." She stood on her toes and kissed him.

Leonard frowned. "Did he call you Gandalf?"

Pris grinned. "Yes. I'm the wizard. It's our thing."

"Cute." Leonard teased her a little and she actually blushed.

"Well, he calls me a lot of things." She said.

"I probably don't need to know that." Leonard wondered where she was going with this.

"Moon of my life." Embry quoted. "Angel of music, Juliet, Snow." He continued. "There is just no way to describe her in a single sentence."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here." She blushed even deeper.

"I have to go, Love." He leaned in and kissed her again before waving to Leonard and walking down the stairs.

Pris stared after him with a far-off look in her eye. Leonard eventually laughed, shaking her from her thoughts.

"What?" she asked.

"With that look on your face, it's strange that he isn't the only thing you talk about." Leonard joked. She frowned at him for a second. "I'm just teasing you."

"The term: 'out of sight, out of mind' applies."

"What do you mean?"

Pris stared down the stairs quickly and then looked back at Leonard, a curious look on her face.

"I think I can actually explain this in a way that you may understand." She said.

"Explain what?"

Pris started walking towards his door. "Embry is like Oxygen to me." She said and he followed with a cute "awww".

"It's essential for my life. He's a constant. But when I don't think about it, I'm not even aware that I'm breathing."

"So you did forget about him?" Leonard teased.

"Just because I don't always think about oxygen, doesn't mean that I forgot to breathe."

Leonard's jaw dropped. "Wow." And he nearly walked into his door. He bumped his foot against the closed door as he stared at Pris and collected himself.

"No measure of time or distance can change the way I feel about him. When I'm not around him that pull he has on me, that magnetic force, is gone, but it…"

"Doesn't mean you're not attracted to him or feel any different." He finished her sentence as they walked into the apartment. "That's really romantic, Pris."

"What is romantic?" Sheldon asked. He stood in front of the giant Jenga game with the three dimensional chess game on the coffee table behind him.

"She used Oxygen and Magnatism to describe her relationship with her husband."

"You're married?" Sheldon asked, shocked. "Someone vowed to put up with you 'til death do you part?"

"Shocking, huh?" she joked.

"Sheldon." Leonard tried but Pris smiled and shook her head. Sheldon didn't bother her as much as he wanted to.

"Whatcha doin?" Pris asked Sheldon as she stared at the assemble Jenga tower.

"I want to challenge you to a few high tech games." Sheldon said with a sneaky smile.

"What's this?" she pointed at the 3D chessboard.

"3D chess." Leonard answered as he rolled his eyes. He didn't know what Sheldon's point was, but perhaps this was him trying to be nice.

Pris looked down at the strange looking board and turned her head a few times as she stared at the white and black blocks.

"I have wizard's chess." She mumbled.

"What?" Leonard asked excitedly. Sheldon almost jumped out of his skin, it was an exciting thought, but he contained himself.

"Yeah. Life size pieces, Giant board. Voice activated movements too. I made it myself. It's installation art."

"Cool." Leonard grinned.

"So, 3D chess?" Pris looked at Sheldon. "Challenge accepted."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Should we wait for an audience?" Sheldon asked, his nice pretense slipping.

"Audience?" Leonard picked up on it immediately.

"Sure." Pris said and by the smile on her face, Leonard could tell that Sheldon didn't scare her. She snapped her head in Leonard's direction, her hair flying around her face and smiled her normal Pris smile. "Can I help with anything?"

"Uhm. I'm just going to make some punch. But you can stand with me."

Leonard walked towards the kitchen and Pris left Sheldon behind at the couch.

"Oh wow. What is this?" she referred to the snacks laid out on the kitchen island.

"It's for your birthday party." Leonard said matter-of-factly.

"Wow. You didn't have to do that." She grinned, though.

"Well, this is the first birthday thing I get to do for a sibling, so I really wanted to."

"Oh. Yeah. That's so sweet."

"Did you have birthday parties growing up?" Leonard asked, curious about how her mother was different from his.

"Yes. Birthdays were a huge thing in my house. And holidays. We celebrated everything."

"Yeah?" Leonard wanted to hear more.

"We usually had an average of three dinners at thanksgiving every year and Christmas we spent in front of the TV all day. Birthdays are very important. My mom held so many amazing parties for me that the cops were called once and another one we ended up trying to track down a lost Llama."

"What?" Leonard laughed.

"Crazy. So who's going to be here?" Pris asked excitedly.

"The usual. Raj, Howard…" Leonard started and then Pris took over.

"Amy, Bernadette and Penny?"

"Yup. You know you're husband could have stayed too." Leonard mixed a few juices.

"Yeah I know. He had a dinner thing." Pris grabbed a snack off the kitchen island.

"And you didn't go with him?" Leonard stopped what he was doing to stare at her for a little while. She blushed and stared down into a bowl of M&M's.

"I'm no fun." She stated and Sheldon made a noncommittal noise from the living room but they ignored him.

"What do you mean?" Leonard asked, as he quickly glanced at Sheldon and looked back at Pris.

"I'm a human lie detector." Pris reminded him.

"Oh, right." Leonard nodded, continuing with the drink.

"And business people don't like that I can call them out on all their lies. Embry can't make any business deals when I'm around."

"Right."

"What kind of music do you listen to?" Pris wondered over to the radio and scanned the disks. They were old and pre iTunes. She laid eyes on the iPod player and removed her phone from her back pocket. She searched for her tunes and connected it to the player.

"This is currently my favorite song." A metal song: _Lateralus_ by Tool started playing.

"That's just noise." Sheldon complained.

"It's mathematics." Pris countered.

"Oh Please." Sheldon uttered.

"Shut up Sheldon." Pris sang and closed her eyes as she continued to listen to the song.

The door opened and Penny poked her head in.

"Hi," she searched for Pris and found her as she strolled back to the couch. "Ready for your first present?" Penny asked.

"Presents? You didn't have to get me presents." Pris stated.

"Not? It's the social convention." Sheldon countered.

"Did you get me something, Sheldon?" Pris asked him, genuinely curious.

"Perhaps I did, Perhaps not." Sheldon failed at keeping a poker face.

"Schrödinger's cat. We get it." Penny stated and looked at Pris again. "Ready?"

"Sure."

Penny pushed the door open wider and stepped in carrying something fluffy. Pris's jaw dropped when Penny placed the ball of fur on the floor. Pris bent down and called the puppy to her.

"Oh wow! Penny!?" Pris uttered as the puppy reached her. It was a mix breed between a Husky and a Pomeranian. "A Pomsky?" Pris actually had to fight back happy tears. She picked up the puppy and reached out to hug Penny.

"Oh. That one is from Leonard." Penny said as she remained close to the door.

"I asked Penny to get you something." Leonard was curious as to how Penny would know that the puppy would have this effect on his sister. But he was glad that she was grinning from ear to ear.

"A brilliant man knows how to use his recourses." Pris reached out and hugged Leonard.

"Where did you get that load of…" Sheldon started.

"Shut up Sheldon." Pris, Penny and Leonard said together.

After the excitement over the little ball of fur had dropped down a little, Penny stepped closer to the door again. "And this one is from me." Penny opened the door and dragged in a red painted metal horse that reached up to her thighs.

"Is that one of the posts from the park?" Leonard uttered. It resembled a line of posts that separated the sidewalk from the grass. They were cemented into the sidewalk and each painted different colors like the jungle gym.

"What did you do?" Pris asked with another wide grin on her face.

"Oh no, I just picked it up. This morning when I went for my run, I noticed that it had been knocked down last night. When Leonard said you were coming over, I just went and got it."

"This is amazing." Pris hugged Penny. "Thank you."

"You stole public property?" Sheldon asked but Penny just glanced at him.

"Penny, how did you know Pris would want this?" Leonard asked.

"Well, the other day when I went for my run, I sort of ran into Pris, she was trying to take the post by brute force and almost got arrested." Penny giggled. "I saw her confrontation with the cop and it was insanely crazy…"

"So Penny pretended that she had lost me – her crazy sister – and promised the officer that I won't be wondering around the park anymore." Pris finished the story. "I wanted it for one of my art pieces. I would have paid for it."

"And we had coffee later and she told me about the dog she wanted."

"Coffee?" Leonard felt a pang of jealousy.

"Are you jealous?" Pris asked. "That's so cute." She reached out and hugged him again. "You are by far the best sibling I could have asked for."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"What are you doing there tiny Direwolf?" Sheldon yelled as the ball of fluff ran down the hall. Pris let go of her hug on Leonard and stared at Sheldon as he took off down the hall after the puppy.

"Did he just call her Direwolf?" Pris asked Leonard. "Like Game of Thrones?"

"Yeah. I think it means he likes her?" Leonard pressed his lips together, unsure.

"I like it." Pris grinned and ran down the hall.

The door opened and Howard walked in, followed by everyone else.

"Hey, did Sheldon finally kill Persephone?" Howard asked. "'Cause I gotta tell ya, leaving bloody drag marks on the stairs, will surely get him caught."

"Bloody what?" Leonard stepped forward, curious.

"Oh, that was me." Penny said.

"You killed her?" Howard asked.

"No the marks are from the red paint on her park post." Penny pointed to the figure against the wall and all the new comers sighed in unison.

"So, where is she?" Amy asked, actually wondering where Sheldon was.

"Hi guys." Pris walked in with her puppy. Sheldon following behind.

"Happy birthday." They all called randomly, making it sound like an echo.

"Thank you." Pris gave them each a hug and ended up standing in front of Sheldon's spot. She looked up at him and stepped out of the way, giving him his spot. "So, 3D chess?" she asked and sat down.

"Your present first." Sheldon smiled strangely. Leonard did not like this and decided to sit down next to Pris for support.

Sheldon walked around the couch and grabbed a neatly wrapped box and handed it to Pris. She smiled, curious as to what he could possibly give her and gently pulled off the tape. She grabbed the edge of the paper and tore it around the present, revealing a brown box. Dropping the wrapping paper, she slowly opened the box and looked inside.

She instantly grinned and a slight blush crept up her cheeks. She giggled manically and slapped her hand over her mouth.

"Where did you get this?" Pris asked.

"What is it?" Leonard asked as he tried to see what she was looking at. She took a deep breath and showed the contents to him. Leonard blinked a few times, trying to make sense of it and then he smiled too.

"Hey! Come on! What is it?" Penny asked.

"An Ig Nobel Prize." Leonard held it out for everyone to see. It was a plant pot with periodic elements "growing" out of it and a certificate against the box, describing the award.

"Say what now?" Penny asked as if for everyone but she realized that she was the only one who didn't know what he was talking about.

"Psychology prize." Amy read out loud. "For confirming, by experiment, that people who think they are drunk also think they are attractive."*

"I could have told you that." Penny mumbled.

"Yeah. I had a hunch." Pris grinned.

"You won a Nobel prize for proving that?" Penny screeched.

"An Ig-Nobel prize." Leonard emphasized the IG part of it.

"It's like the Razzie awards." Pris explained when Penny still looked confused.

"The what now?" Bernadette asked.

"Don't worry, I get it." Penny smiled and took the prize from Leonard. "This is a real thing? Like a real official prize? That's so cool."

"It is not cool." Sheldon bellowed. "It was supposed to be embarrassing."

"Why would it be embarrassing?" Howard asked. "It's an award. Far higher than anything you've gotten, Sheldon."

Sheldon's face contorted into several directions as he tried to contain his madness. He took a few loud deep breaths and sunk into his seat, still twitching in his face.

"Despite your evil intentions, thank you so much, Sheldon!" Pris got the award back and placed it safely out of harms way. "I couldn't attend the ceremony, so I never got it. Then I was supposed to arrange with them to get it sent to me, but with moving and working, I never got around to it. This must have taken some threats and hard work to get it to me."

Pris chagrinned, knowing that a hug was out of the question.

"That was very nice of you Sheldon." Penny patted him on the shoulder, making him growl slightly. "Even though you were using your powers for evil."

"So, 3D chess?" Pris asked again.

As everyone settled around the coffee table with the snacks and drinks handed out, the puppy, having gone full round around the group, was now sleeping on Penny's lap. Pris watched as Sheldon started the game.

For the first few moves, Pris studied Sheldon and the game as if her life depended on it and then after a short while, she physically relaxed and started to play for real, fully understanding the game.

"I get checkmate in thirteen moves." She stated with a faint smile. The one she had whenever she did math too quickly.

"We'll see about that." Sheldon huffed.

Everyone chattered about work and started to get to know Pris as a part of the group. Sheldon on the other hand looked as if he was going to just throw the chess board off the table and beat Pris with the pieces.

"Wait a second!" Penny stated after Leonard mentioned that he had met Pris's husband. "You're married to Embry Prior? The writer?"

"Yeah." Pris wasn't really paying attention to Penny. Sheldon had made a strange move on the board and she was getting anxious.

"Isn't he working on that new TV series? Something about Steampunk underworld kingdoms? He Tweeted a poster or the cover of the first script. I can't remember."

"You follow her husband on Twitter?" Leonard frowned.

"I didn't know that he's her husband. He's this award-winning author. I love his books. And he is HOT." Penny said, granting a quick grin from Pris.

"You read?" Amy asked skeptically.

"I read his books. Since we did one of his plays in one of my acting classes." Penny stated. "He's really good. Can I meet him?" Penny asked.

Pris didn't hear her as she stared at the Chessboard, a frown on her face.

"What's going on?" Leonard asked when he finally looked at Pris and Sheldon's faces. Everyone's attention turned to the 3D board.

"Eleven moves in." Raj stated as he had been watching the game closely.

Sheldon made a move and Pris gasped. "Sheldon?"

"What?" Penny asked, being the only one again who didn't understand a thing.

"Twelve moves." Raj stated.

Pris took her queen and slowly dragged it across the board, placing it right in the crosshairs of Sheldon's king. He had nowhere to go. It was checkmate. Everyone stared at Sheldon in silence as his face began to twitch again.

He sat up so quickly the board got bumped and all the pieces fell over.

"I hate you." Sheldon said loudly, his eyes piercing Pris. "You are a rude and tactless bully and I want you out of my house."

"Sheldon!" Leonard stood up in defense of his brilliant sister.

"Leonard," Sheldon turned his crazy eyes on him, "Choose. Her or me?"

"What?" Leonard already knew where Sheldon's mind was going and he knew he wasn't going to choose between them. If he really had to, he would pick Pris over Sheldon any day.

"No, Leonard." Pris sprang up between them. "Don't. It's okay. I'll go. I overstayed my welcome." Pris reached out for her puppy and turned towards the door.

"Pris, no." Leonard tried to stop her. She turned to face him quickly.

"I know what you would choose and that's okay with me." She stared at the red horse post and stopped. "I'll arrange with someone from work to get that. Thanks so much for everything."

And then she was gone.

(* This prize is real and was won in 2012 by five scientists)


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

When Pris had rushed to the door, Leonard followed a few steps behind her until she quickly ran out the door.

Sheldon squared himself on his feet, satisfied that she had left and not wondering about the consequences.

"I'm going to kill you!" Leonard rounded on him.

Sheldon screeched and stepped back a few paces towards the hallway. "Kill me? Isn't that a little melodramatic?" Sheldon asked eventually, making Leonard more mad.

"Run Sheldon." Leonard stepped closer. "Run and hide!"

Sheldon backed up a bit and stumbled into the side table. He corrected himself and raced down the hall, quickly and loudly, shutting his door.

"If you do kill him, we're all your witnesses, we will testify that it was an accident." Howard joked.

"What are you going to do?" Bernadette asked, panicked. "I agree that what he did wasn't very nice, but I think murder is a bit too far."

"Is it?" Raj asked. "Think about all the hell he's put us through all these years. "We've finally reached an end."

"Come on. You can't kill him." Penny stated. "He's a robot. Just switch him off."

Leonard smiled, finally calming down. This was a last straw for him but murder was still never an option.

"No, I'll just let him think about it for a while." Leonard sat down.

"He isn't a kid. You can't just put him in a time out and hope he will come say he's sorry. You know he doesn't even think he did anything wrong." Penny said. "What would you do if he was an actual robot? And he didn't work with another program or thingy?"

"We'd install plug-ins and bridge software to make him compatible with her." Leonard said, taking the conversation seriously.

"I vote no." Amy said quickly.

"What else can you do?" Bernadette asked. "You know. Not if he were a robot, but a real human being?"

"I don't know. Just don't let him near me. I might slap him so hard his teeth will bleed."

The next morning, Leonard got up earlier than usual and got ready for work. He wanted to leave before Sheldon woke up and expected him to take him to work. But Leonard was still seeing red, so he rushed to the door.

"Leonard?" Sheldon called as he shuffled in his pajamas down the hall.

Leonard didn't want to stop but Sheldon caught him right at the door.

"What are you doing?" Sheldon asked.

"I'm going to work. Good bye Sheldon."

"You have to wait for me."

"No. I don't." Leonard said as he opened the door.

"But the r…"

"If you say Roommate agreement, I will hire a lawyer and sue you for everything you own!" Leonard yelled. "Bye." And slammed the door shut behind him.

A couple days later, Leonard sat in Penny's apartment, wine in hand.

"So, she's going back to Seattle?" Penny asked about Pris.

"Yes." Leonard was still very upset.

"When will you see her again?"

"I don't know. She's visiting her mom this week, then she officially moves to LA and that takes a while, then she has her work to do. I'll call her and try and figure it out."

"Have you spoken to her since her party?"

"Yeah. We're good. She actually laughed about it. She gave me a few pointers if I wanted to kill Sheldon."

Penny laughed. "She's a cutey."

"Did I tell you that she once got suspended for a week from school because she punched a bully?"

"I though she wasn't bullied?"

"She wasn't. The kid bullied her friend and she knocked a tooth out. And she was only ten years old."

"How old was the bully?"

"Fifteen."

"Oh. Wow. She sounds a little like me." Penny grinned.

"She's strong. Like you. Yes."

"Have you thought what you're going to do about Sheldon?" Penny swirled the wine in her glass, feeling a bit like an evil queen mixing a potion and discussing evil plans.

"Killing is off the table. My mother would be so mad if I killed him. Not that her approval matters. But Pris also told me not to kill him. So I'll listen to her."

"So, you're just freezing him out?"

"I think by now he got the message that what he did was wrong. I think he's raking his head trying to figure out why."

At that very moment, Pris was sitting on a dirty floor, facing the wall. Dust and concrete fell over her lap as she carefully carved figures out of the wall. She jumped when her two-way radio beeped on.

"Prior?" a voice called.

Pris reached for the radio in her pocket and stared at the mess she had made.

"Yes Arena?" she answered.

"Are you sick? Or dying? Something that you haven't told me?" Arena asked.

"No. Why?" Pris listened to her friend's tone of voice and was curious.

"There's a doctor here to see you."

"My brother?" She wondered.

"No. This one is tall and lanky and makes me feel very uncomfortable."

Pris snapped her head away from her work.

"Sheldon?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Pris tilted her head to the side. This was weird. What was Sheldon doing there?

"Please take him to my office." Pris said into the radio. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Roger." Arena said back.

Pris frowned and stared at the wall in front of her. "This should be interesting." She said to herself and stood up. "Very interesting."

As she stood up, the entire afternoon's dust and concrete fell off her cargo pants. She sneezed and headed to her office.

Arena walked down the long hall with Sheldon at her heels. The silence was awkward but loud as their footsteps echoed off the wooden floors. She showed Sheldon into Pris's office and with a curt nod, left the strange man behind. Sheldon stared around the room and felt a strange sense of warmth from the way that the light bounced off the walls and the many colors felt like a quilt covering him with comfort. He hated it.

He looked at the couches assembled around the coffee table and had the urge to fall face down into the soft looking pillows of the red couch. He took a deep breath, fighting that very urge.

"Doesn't look like an office." He mumbled to himself.

"It's my waiting area." Pris said from the door. "Or casual boardroom."

"You artsy people are crazy." Sheldon stated.

"Thanks." Pris actually smiled.

Sheldon looked up and saw the array of coffee pods against the wall and shook his head. "Who drinks that much coffee?"

"I do." Pris stepped deeper into the room. She wanted to cross her arms but decided that it was defensive body language. The fact the Sheldon was clutching the strap of his bag so tightly told her that he wasn't very comfortable.

"Just more proof that you're as benighted as you are vexatious." Sheldon stated coldly.

"Or just proof that I like coffee." Pris walked to her own favorite spot on the couch.

There was a long silence before Sheldon spoke again. "I read your recent paper online."

This surprised Pris. She had only posted that the previous night.

"Where do you come up with such garbage?"

Pris's new paper was entitled: The affect of Coffee, Sugar and comfort on drunken people.

"I have very strange friends." Pris grinned. "And with everything that's going on in my mind all the time, it's relaxing when I research and write silly papers like that. Albert Einstein took a…"

"I know. He took a menial job to refocus his brain."

"You want to sit down, Sheldon?"

"I don't plan on staying long." Sheldon looked at the red couch again and longed to feel its warmth.

"Okay. So. What can I do for you?" Pris eventually sat down in her spot.

"I want you to call Leonard off." Sheldon simply stated.

"What?"

"He's been mean to me all week, and it's all your fault."

"Please explain your hypothesis."

"Ever since your party, Leonard and the others have been giving me a cold shoulder. He's refused to take me to work and home and to the comic book store. I've had to wear bus pants all week!"

"Bus pants?" Pris thought that one through. "Sure. Pants you wear over your regular pants when one must ride on a bus."

Sheldon sighed exasperated. "Of course. Of everyone in this world, you would know what bus pants are."

"I don't drive, much." Was her only explanation. And that to him meant that she took the bus a lot.

"But you're rich." Sheldon stated. "Don't you have people to drive you around?"

Pris was shocked. He must have done some research on her to know that.

"Just for about a year now. But I had to take a bus to College for 7 years."

Sheldon didn't have much of a comeback for that. He would have hated to take a bus for seven years. He almost forgot why he was there.

"Sheldon, did you research me?" she finally asked him.

"I did. I know a lot more about you than Leonard does. In fact, I know that you have a criminal record."

Pris froze. Where was Sheldon going with this?

"What do you want?" she finally asked him.

"I already told you. I want you to tell Leonard to stop being mean to me." He whined.

"Sheldon. I have no control over how Leonard treats you. The way you treat people says more about yourself than it does about them. I did not set Leonard on you like a dog."

"I can't believe I have to resort to this, but none the less: If you don't make him stop, I will tell him about your criminal record."

"Blackmail? Nice." Pris stood from her seat and walked closer to him. "This is crazy."

"I'm not crazy. My mother had me tested."

Pris walked even closer and stood too close for his comfort. "Well, by your own words, I am."

"I'm not afraid of you. You're tiny. And I have information you don't want me to spill."

"Go ahead. Tell him." She dared after a long dramatic pause.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It had been a couple days since Sheldon's visit to Pris's office. He had stewed over his idea to tell Leonard about Pris's secrets until he had, what he considered, a full proof plan.

Leonard stayed at Penny's place most nights. It was just easier to avoid Sheldon that way.

After figuring out his plan to the last detail, Sheldon walked across the hall to Penny's door.

Knock, knock, knock. "Leonard and Penny?" he did his little knocking ritual.

"Ignore it." Leonard said loudly for Sheldon to hear through the door. He huffed and decided to speak through the door.

"I have important information, that you should know about." He said loudly.

And after getting no response, he added: "It's about Pris."

It took a few seconds, but eventually Leonard opened the door.

"What about Pris?" Leonard asked. He knew it wouldn't be anything drastic. But after quick evaluation, he realized that if something happened to her, Leonard wouldn't know, because no one would really know to inform him.

Sheldon looked down at the floor and then sighed.

"She's going to be on TV tomorrow." Sheldon eventually said.

"What?"

"Yes. She's appearing on 'Good morning Seattle'. It streams live on the Internet at five AM."

"Thanks Sheldon." Leonard started closing the door. "We'll have a look."

"Don't you want to watch it at our apartment? I rigged the TV so that the Internet streams to the screen." Sheldon whined.

Leonard looked at Sheldon for a long time and then at Penny. "Sure. We'll be there at 5am." And then he shut the door.

Early the next morning, Leonard and Penny sat on the couch, waiting for Good Morning Seattle to start. Penny was already down a few cups of coffee and Sheldon sat in his spot, high on alert and genuinely happy that his friends were with him again.

The show started with its jolly morning tune and the host sat alone around the high table.

"Good morning Seattle." The lady in the blue suit stated. "And everyone watching online. Welcome to today's show. I'm Margot Darling."

"Why didn't she tell me about this?" Leonard asked as he sat forward in his seat.

"Today on the show we have one of our old favorites, Prissy Reid. Remember our little kid genius? Well, she features in a newly published book, explaining how her entire life was a science experiment, and she is here tonight to talk about it. Let's welcome, Persephone."

It took a few seconds before Pris appeared on the stage.

"She looks ill." Leonard commented at the very sight of her.

Pris walked across the stage and sat in the empty chair next to Margot.

"Hello Prissy." Margot greeted the green looking Pris. "Are you nervous again?" It seemed to be a regular occurrence.

Pris nodded slowly.

"Why?" Margot found it funny.

"I don't do good with crowds, Margot. Still." Pris said softly.

"It's just me. You know me. You can relax."

"You have an average of a million viewers per show, and that doesn't include Internet streaming. That's a crowd." Pris looked really uncomfortable.

"They're not all here." Margot said.

"They're all here." Pris pointed at her head.

"Oh man." Leonard felt overly protective of Pris and wished he could make her feel better.

"Sweetheart, you have a doctorate in Phycology. What's that technique to calm yourself?" Margot started looking worried.

"I would usually kick my heels and repeat: There's no place like home. But that isn't working."

"What else is there?"

Pris closed her eyes and held her face. "My name is Persephone Prior. I live in Magnolia, Seattle. I'm an installation artist. My husband is Embry Prior, my mother is Sephone Ryan…" She started faltering and then added. "My brother is Leonard Hofstadter."

Pris opened her eyes and she smiled. With a deep sigh, she looked ready for anything.

"Are you okay?" Margot asked.

"Yes thank you. Sorry about that. Go ahead, Margot."

"You have a brother?" Margot asked suddenly. "I didn't know that."

"Neither did I. But yes, I do. Two actually, and a sister. Only one that I've met." Pris started getting color back in her face. "I like him."

"You're mom got married?"

"No. Well, yes. But no. My siblings actually come from my father's side. He had this whole other family that I didn't know about."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Pris smiled.

"Okay, so about the book…" Margot launched into details about the book, things that Leonard already knew but he kept watching and listened intently. Margot was a very good host and asked several intense questions.

"And after the book?" Margot asked coming to a slow end.

"I got another doctorate. And I got married. Now I'm moving to LA. I have an art exhibition in a couple of weeks there and a few job offers."

"That's amazing." Margot picked up her iPad and tapped the screen. "So a new feature of the show, is that once an interview starts, people start tweeting comments and questions and then we spend a few minutes reading them. That okay with you?"

"Sure." Pris gulped. "One million viewers. Should be interesting."

Margo started scrolling through the comments and questions.

"What does it feel like to have your life read by the entire world?" Margot read a question.

"It's not exactly a best seller, the whole world isn't reading it. But it's actually so clinical. Most of my life was mine. And it can't really be chronicled in a single book."

"Do you hate your father for never being there for you?"

"Not at all." Pris found the question a little strange. "My life is the way it is. I wouldn't change anything about it. My mom did a great job raising me and I am very happy."

"You seem very perfect: Pretty, Smart and rich."

"Oh, I'm hardly perfect." Pris shook her head. "Perfect wouldn't get panic attacks each time she has to talk to other people. Perfect doesn't burn the cooking. And Perfect most certainly doesn't forget her own birthday."

Margot smiled. "Okay, one last one." She scrolled down. "No not that one."

"What?" Pris was curious and stared at the iPad. Her manner instantly changed as she read the tweet. She was slightly pissed off. And then she smiled. "Ask away."

Margot stared at Pris for a second before she read the tweet. "Do you have a criminal record?"

"Someone actually asked that?" Leonard was shocked as he stared at the screen.

"Yes I do." Pris answered, nearly knocking Leonard off his seat. Sheldon was not surprised.

"What did you do?" Margot asked, also shocked.

Pris laughed and shook her head. "Okay. Okay." She sat up and started telling the story.

"When I was busy with my doctorate in Mathematics, I got suspended because a professor accused me of stealing his test. I couldn't possibly have been smarter than him, and granted, telling your math professor that he made a mistake, isn't the best way to start your final year, but the accusations stuck and I got kicked out. So I returned the next semester in a different course, hacked his computer, _actually_ stole the test and wrote the answers for all his students to see. I know that breaking into his class and vandalizing the entire wall with the answers was bad enough, but I just had to sit in his chair and wait for him to see it. And I corrected his mistake."

"You got arrested for that?" Margot laughed.

"Yes. I got community service hours and a huge fine to pay. But it was worth it."

"Oh my word. She is so cute." Leonard grinned.

"This means war." Sheldon breathed and sauntered off to his room, leaving Penny and Leonard staring after him.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

There was a knock on the door of apartment 4A. Leonard, who had been eating pizza with Penny, got up and answered the door. Pris stood in front of the door with a smile.

"Hi. You're back?" Leonard asked.

"Yeah." She stayed on the other side of the door, even though the door was wide open.

"I saw you on TV." Leonard grinned, so proud of her.

"Oh, really?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah. You were great. I can't believe you get that nervous." Leonard started wondering why she refused to step into the apartment. "Sheldon's not here. You can come in. Pizza?" he added once he realized she was practically banned from the place.

"No thanks. I have to get to the office. I just came to drop this off." She rummaged in the bag she always carried. She handed him a small wooden king from a carved chess set. "Please give this to Sheldon."

"Why?" He stared at the beautiful piece.

"Its my surrender," Pris smiled. "But don't tell him that. Let him figure it out."

And then she turned and left.

Sheldon arrived home soon after with DVD store rental. He was starting to get a handle on doing several things alone, and going to the new DVD store, was one of them.

"What movie did you get?" Penny asked.

"Gulliver's Travels." Sheldon held the DVD up and grinned. "I had the tiny pimply faced kid pick something out for me. He said it was: Dope."

"You want to watch it with me?"

"We're going out." Leonard stood from the couch.

"Pris brought you something." Leonard said as he and Penny started heading towards the door.

"Wait what?" Sheldon was shocked.

Leonard pointed towards the chess piece on the coffee table. "I think she actually made that by hand. So, if you throw it away I will strangle you."

Sheldon picked up the wooden piece and admired the detailed work. "Why would she give me this?"

"She said…" Leonard had to think for a second. "You have to figure it out. Good night Sheldon."

"It's a surrender." Sheldon stated after staring at the king for a long time.

"Good for you, Sheldon." Leonard turned towards the door and then back to face Sheldon. "Why is she surrendering?"

"Because I am superior to her."

"No, actually, Sheldon, she's the superior one." Leonard stated, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Why do you say that?" Sheldon was genuinely shocked.

"Because, she'd rather have peace than suffer through an ongoing war."

"That makes her weak."

"Oh my god. Good night Sheldon." Leonard turned and left.

After his movie, Sheldon gloated to himself as he put on his Wednesday PJ's and got ready for bed. He stared at the tiny wooden chess piece with a smug smile before turning off his light.

But Sheldon could not sleep soundly. He woke up every few hours thinking that something had moved in his room. He looked up at the chess piece to make sure everything was still okay.

But then something felt strange. He couldn't move. He looked down towards his feet and saw that he had been strapped down. He was roped down by thousands of strings that stuck into his duvet.

Sheldon gasped when all of his figurines stood around him on his bed. Some holding pitchforks, which seemed to be ear buds that had been set on fire, and pointing any weapons on him. Sheldon looked up at the chess piece and saw the tiny king raise his hand in a command and the figurines roared.

Sheldon woke up with a scream…

There was a knock at the door of apartment 4A. Leonard dropped the TV remote and walked to the door.

When he opened the door, Mrs. Mary Cooper stood on the other side holding on to her roller carry bag. She smiled cautiously as she stepped in.

"Leonard." she greeted him with a warm hug.

Penny, who had been working on  
her laptop, walked closer to also greet their guest.

"Mary. Mrs. Cooper. Thanks for coming so quickly." Leonard said as Mary hugged Penny.

"Well, you said it was important." Mary scanned the apartment as if she was looking for the sign of trouble.

"Sorry we didn't get you at the airport. We would have picked you up." Penny stated.  
"No that's all right sweetheart. I like to preach to the drivers. Saving souls one taxi ride at a time." she seemed very proud of herself. "How's my Shelly?" she asked, still searching the room.

"Its better if I show you. I can't really explain it." Leonard tried to point Mary towards the bedrooms but she stood stiff and stared at him.

"You know, you scare the bejesus out of me every time you say that?" Mary complained.  
"I'm sorry. Its just difficult to explain." Leonard scratched his head.

He led the way towards Sheldon's room. And Mary and Penny followed. Mary sighed at the drama and opened Sheldon's door.

Sheldon stood near his wall, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and wearing what seemed to be an army hat. He was staring at his wall, mumbling inaudibly. Mary looked at what he was staring at and saw several articles, picture and notes. Some pages from Dr. Hofstadter's book were ripped out, highlighted and also stuck to the wall. It looked like a war room. Mary's jaw dropped and she slowly walked backwards out of the room before Sheldon even saw her. She softly closed the door and took a minute to find something to say.

"You said this was about a girl?" she managed. "But not Amy?"

"No. This is another girl." Leonard said.

"And he likes her? Mary asked.

"She's married." Penny threw in.

"No." Leonard frowned at penny, trying to salvage the conversation. "No he doesn't like her. Actually he hates her."

"That looks like a war room. And not the praying kind of war room, but the dangerous kind."

"Yup." Leonard had the same thought the first time he saw it.

"I shoulda gotten that second opinion when I had him tested..." Mary mumbled to herself. "What did this girl do to Shelly?" she eventually asked Leonard.

"Nothing actually. She's just smarter than him." Leonard answered nonchalantly.

"Oh lord, have mercy." Mary uttered. "Really? Smarter than Sheldon? I didn't know it was  
possible."

"Neither did he" Leonard stared.

"Alright. Let s talk to Sheldon. See if he'll see reason." Mary rolled up her sleeves and said a quick prayer before opening Sheldon's door and marching in.

"Hello Shelly." Mary said loud enough to shake Sheldon from his trance. He turned and stared at his mother as if he couldn't comprehend her existence. It took him a second to realize that she was standing in his room in front of Leonard and Penny.

"Mom?" Sheldon rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Mary walked closer and hugged him close despite his rigid stance.

"You called my mother?" Sheldon asked under his breath.

"We were a little worried about you." Leonard stated, expecting the worst reply.

"Oh you were? That's so sweet. Worrying is what friends do, right? We're friends again, aren't we?"

"Yes Sheldon. "

"Baby. Tell me what you're doing in here?" Mary steered Sheldon to his bed.

"Pris is mean to me." Sheldon whined.

"How is she mean to you, Baby?"

"She sits in my spot!"

"Shelly…" Mary started to lecture but he kept going.

"She beat me at 3D chess. She smells like books and cookies. She's never been bullied because she's pretty. And she knows how to talk to people and make them like her. She's smart. Me kind of smart. And she can speak 4 languages. Earth languages."

"Earth languages?" Penny whispered to Leonard in the hallway.

"Real spoken languages. Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian."

"And English." Penny added.

"Right. That's five." Leonard grinned.

"She's just so perfect!" Sheldon finished his rant and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Baby." Mary took his face in her hands. "Is it possible… And I'm not saying it is, I'm just asking, but is it at all possible that you might really like this young lady? And don't know how to handle it?"

Sheldon frowned and Penny threw her hand over her mouth as she gasped.

"Oh my god." Penny whispered excitedly. "Sheldon's in love with Pris."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Leonard and Penny sat in the living room. Both dressed to the nines and waiting. Penny was wearing a long purple evening gown and had her hair pinned up in a style. Leonard was wearing a brand new suit and custom made Circuit Board Cufflinks that Pris has sent him.

"Are you sure we should wait?" Penny asked after a while.

"Yeah I think so. We might need to help carry Sheldon out of here, and between the three of us, you have the best upper body strength, so we need you." Leonard stated and Penny nodded with a smile.

Mary walked out of Sheldon's room with a satisfied look on her face. She was also dressed to the nines in a long baby blue and gold dress that Penny had help her pick out.

"Is he okay?" Leonard asked carefully.

"He is on his way." Mary said and turned just as Sheldon walked out of his room wearing a dark blue suit.

"Don't you look handsome?" Penny noted when she stood from the couch.

"I don't know. Most likely, given my stature and this beautifully tailored Suit." Sheldon said dryly.

"So are we ready to go?" Leonard asked.

"I just want to say, that I'm going against protest. And that once this night is over, I will never speak you any of you again." Sheldon pouted.

"Good. Then let's go, so this night can get started." Leonard grabbed his keys and they all headed out.

This was the night of the grand opening of Pris's gallery. It was a highly formal event and the guest list was of a wide variety of people. Every time that Leonard had spoken to Pris, she had been excited about the people who RSVP'd. From Movie celebrities to important professors.

Arriving at the gate, Leonard noticed that there were already a lot of guests. The valet took his car and he walked up the red carpet steps of the newly renovated terrace.

"This is really fancy." Mary noted as she looked at all the other well-dressed guests and the fairy lights and drink stands with waiters attending to guests. Leonard walked closer to a table and stared at the option of drinks. Drinks were labeled with their chemical structures and formulas.

"Is that wine?" Penny asked when she pointed to a glass and a strange chemical formula printed on it.

"Yes. That's wine." Leonard laughed.

"Thought so." Penny grabbed a glass and took a few sips. "See, I can be just as smart as you guys."

They all got drinks and walked further up the steps towards the door. Arena, Pris's assistant stood by the door with a tablet, dressed in a sleek black dress.

"Dr. Hofstadter, welcome." She greeted Leonard formally. "Dr. Cooper." She nodded towards Sheldon. His head snapped up and he frowned at her.

"You know who I am?" he asked.

"Yeah. I can retain the faces, names and facts about up to four hundred guests." Arena smiled. "Plus, you're on our VIP list, so I expected to see you."

"Arena. You look nice. Hi." Leonard wondered for a second if Arena even had a title. He only knew the way Pris addressed her. Arena tapped on her tablet and then looked up at them again.

"Please take a booklet and enjoy the gallery." Arena pointed to a table stacked with booklets and continued on to the next guests.

They each took a book and walked into the foyer. The room had more tables with books and drinks and guests standing around.

"I wonder where's Pris?" Penny asked.

"Probably hiding somewhere." Sheldon said under his breath.

"Whatever would I hide from?" Pris asked as she walked into view. She was wearing a peach silk gown that flowed behind her like wings. "Hi guys." She grinned and greeted Penny and Leonard. "Dr. Cooper. Thank you for coming."

Mary elbowed Sheldon in the ribs and after he caught his breath he said: "Thank you for inviting me." And after a thought he added: "Dr. Prior, this is my mother. Mary Cooper. Mother, this is Pris."

"Dear Heavens, the good Lord did bless you with beauty, didn't he?" Mary stared at Pris as she shook her hand.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cooper. And thank you for coming. I'm sure you will enjoy it."

"I doubt that. I'm not really into this science stuff. Oh and please call me Mary."

"Believe me, you will enjoy this." Pris grinned and stepped away. "Please go ahead, I'll be… everywhere."

They all nodded and started heading down the hall. They reached the first door to their left that was labeled, Rain room, and walked in. It was a large room and a few guests were already inside. In the middle of the black room was a bit of a platform the size of a stage and a rainy mist was coming down from the ceiling. A guest stood on the far end of the platform under the water, though he wasn't getting wet. He walked a few steps and the dry gap followed him. Everywhere he was standing, it wasn't raining, but everywhere else the water poured down.

"That's cool." Penny said and walked closer to the platform. She picked up the edge of her dress and carefully stepped onto the platform. The water stopped pouring above her and she remained dry. "Really cool." Penny grinned.

After they had a bit of fun and dance in the rain room, they walked out and down the hall to the next room: The cloud room.

They walked into the room and were met by a black wall. It took them a second to adjust to the light and noticed that the middle of the wall was a large window. They walked closer and looked through.

"What?" Leonard asked no one in particular with a wide grin on his face.

On the other side of the window was a rather large theatre. It was empty for the most part, except for the actual cloud that hung in the middle of the room.

"What is it?" Penny asked.

"She made the circumstances for a cloud to form inside a building." Leonard read from his booklet.

"That's a real cloud?" Penny stepped closer to the window to check it. "She can do that?"

They moved on to the next room. It was the large hall where she had hung from the ceiling. It had been completely transformed. There were strings everywhere from the floor to the wall and the very high ceiling. In some places the strings pulled together to form an image.

Sheldon huffed and slapped his hand over his mouth. Penny and Mary stared at him, wondering about his mood. Leonard's jaw dropped and quickly looked in the book.

"Oh my god." Leonard said and also started hyperventilating.

"What?" Penny asked.

"Oh my god." Leonard repeated as he walked deeper into the room. Sheldon was already hallway into the room and tears were streaming down his face.

"Sheldon?" Penny started worrying.

"I love her." Sheldon whispered in a teary daze. "I really love her."

"Why?" Penny started getting frustrated with Sheldon and Leonard's reactions.

"This is string theory." Leonard explained, also teary eyed. "She made a life-size representation of string theory."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"So this is what you do for a living?" Penny asked Leonard as she stared up at the room that was three stories high with a few bridges on the upper levels and all the strings that sometimes even seemed to come out of nowhere.

"This is my life." Sheldon stated.

"Oh baby, then this girl can't be all that bad." Mary walked closer to Sheldon and wiped his tears. "She understands you better than I ever can."

"She's married." Leonard whispered with gritted teeth.

Leonard and Penny followed some other guest out to the back patio, leaving Sheldon and Mary behind. The back yard was covered with a strange looking open dome.

"Is it a brain?" Penny asked as she looked up at the shape and the lights that flashed around every now and then like neurons firing.

Underneath the dome shape was a large playground. But not a normal looking playground.

"It's a brain!" Penny said excitedly as she read in her booklet. "The jungle gym is a large DNA string, an open lung, a heart and intestines. Ew. But cool. It is a brain. The lights are neurons. If you touch certain ones then things happen. Sound, or something…. Yeah that's where you lose me. This is really cool."

"She's really cool." Leonard grinned. They walked back inside and found Sheldon just where they left him in the middle of the room.

"Shall we move on?" Penny took Leonard's hand and pulled him towards a set of stairs. A sign pointed up and said: To Heaven and down: To Hell. A large red sign warned against going downstairs.

"To heaven." Leonard stated and they walked up the stairs, with Mary and Sheldon trailing behind. Sheldon couldn't take his eyes off the strings but once they were a level up, they could see the strings again.

Another sign pointed them towards the right and they walked to the second door. They walked in and gasped again. There were walls of glass standing inches apart from each other and leaving only a few passageways for them to walk through. Lights shone up from the floor onto the glass walls and reflected the night sky. As they walked down the walkways, if looked as if they were in the middle of space. Comets shot through the walls and planets moved slowly. A low sound somewhere in the room gave the effect of soundlessness.

They stood in the room and looked around them as if they were floating in space.

After a while, they eventually decided to move on and returned to the stairs. As they walked down the hallway, they could still look up at the strings in the large open hall.

Once down stairs, they ran into Pris again.

"I don't even know what to say." Leonard said as he walked up to his amazing sister. "You… this… I'm… boom." He imitated his head blowing up and she smiled.

"Hey, what's hell like?" Penny asked.

"Don't go there." Pris stated. "It's dark and awful and scary."

"Why is it part of the show?"

"Some parts are ice cold, others is burning hot." She explained. "There's night vision glasses just outside the door if you really want to go, but it's really hell. My idea of it anyway. It's my worst nightmare. It smells bad and haunting images of hunger and pain and suffering throughout the entire basement of the building. It's not for the faint of heart, that's all I'm saying."

Sheldon walked the last few steps down the stairs towards them. He glanced at a bench against the wall and cut quickly towards it.

"I know you're super busy, but I have so many questions." Penny said to Pris.

"I will always be here." Pris said. "have you guys seen the illusions yet? I was just heading there now."

Pris lead them towards the hallway and Sheldon quickly stepped onto the bench. "Oh Captain, my Captain." He said loudly and Pris stopped walking. She turned and faced him as Leonard, Penny and Mary stared at them.

"To be honest, I've always wanted to do that." Sheldon said with a giggle. "But to the point, I would like to offer you an olive branch, or a white poppy, a paper crane or a more secular peace sign." Sheldon held his fingers in a popular v sign for peace. "But I am not an ancient Greek, European, Japanese or a Hippy." He said as he stepped down from the bench. "So I would like to offer you this." He took her hands and held them between them as he leaned closer and kissed her forehead."

"That's a kiss of peace." Mary whispered to Penny and Leonard. "It's very catholic but at least he's heading in the right direction."

Sheldon gently let go and stepped back. "I'd give you back your wooden chess piece, but I don't want to. I love it too much. It's mine. You can't have it."

"I noticed that Sheldon still hadn't said he's sorry." Penny whispered.

"I think he did." Leonard smiled. "He just doesn't know it."


End file.
